[[Image:Septiconium Luci Septimi Severi.jpg|thumb|A fragment of the Septizonium is shown in this engraving dating to 1582]]
[[File:Septizodium, plan de Rome de Paul Bigot, université de Caen MRSH.JPG|thumb|Septizodium, plan de Rome de Paul Bigot, université de Caen MRSH]]
The '''Septizodium''' (also called ''Septizonium'' or ''Septicodium'') was a building in ancient [[Rome]]. It was built in 203 AD by Emperor [[Septimius Severus]]. The origin of the name "Septizodium" is unclear;from ''Septisolium'', from the Septizodium[[Latin]] for temple of seven suns,.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gregorovius|first=Ferdinand|title=History of the city of Rome in the Middle Ages|volume=3|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year= 1895|isbn=978-1-108-01502-8|page=541}}</ref> and was probably named for the seven planetary deities (Saturn, Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus<ref>{{cite book|first=Theodor |last=Dombart|title=Das palatinische Septizonium zu Rom|publisher=Beck|location=Munich|year=1922}}</ref>) or for the fact that it was originally divided into seven parts. The building had no known practical purpose and was probably meant to be a decorative [[facade|façade]]. The Septizodium was located at the place where the [[Via Appia]] leads to the [[Palatine Hill|Palatine]]. Other examples of septizodia are known, all from Africa.<ref>{{cite book|last=Palmer|first= Robert E.A.|chapter=Severan Ruler-cult in The City of Rome|title=Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt|editor= Wolfgang Haase|publisher= Walter de Gruyter|year= 1978|isbn= 3-11-007612-8|page=1117}}</ref>
[[Ammianus Marcellinus]] refers to the building in an ambiguous passage: "The plebs...had come together at the Septemzodium, a popular place, where Marcus Aurelius built a Nymphaeum in a rather ostentatious style."<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, XV, 7, 3</ref>
